What makes a show underrated? It could be that the series has received mixed reviews from critics and/or audiences, but you want to judge for yourself. In some cases, underrated shows even go on to become cult classics years, even decades, after their release. In other cases, a show is quietly well-reviewed by a small number of critics, but it doesn’t really ever get a huge audience. It might be a lack of promotion or simply too much competition from other shows. Whatever the case, underrated shows are those hidden gems you get excited about when you discover them.
We’re here to help you find some of these types of shows with picks for three underrated shows on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in March. They are all very different shows: one a crime drama, one a historical fantasy drama that draws comparisons to Game of Thrones, and one an insightful docuseries about the education system.
The crime drama American Rust premiered on Showtime in 2021 and was canceled after just one season. Amazon Freevee revived the show months later, and the second season premieres on Amazon Prime Video at the end of this month. The series stars Jeff Daniels as Del Harris, chief of police in a small Pennsylvania Rust Belt. When the son of his girlfriend Grace (Maura Tierney) is accused of murder, Harris takes charge of the investigation.
In the second season, Grace gets caught up in the criminal world, fueled by her loyalty to Harris. Reprising their roles from the first season are David Alvarez (West Side Story), Alex Neustaedter (Colony), Mark Pellegrino (Supernatural), Rob Yang (Succession), and Kyle Beltran (Inventing Anna). The story for season 2 adds new characters played by Luna Lauren Velez (Dexter), Nick Sandow (Orange is the New Black), Britain Seibert (A Murder at the End of the World), Marc Menchaca (Ozark), and Christopher Denham (Billions), to name a few. The first season was largely criticized for its writing but praised for the acting and cast. But it’s worth powering through season 1 to see how the story unfolds under Amazon’s tutelage for the second season, known as Broken Justice.
Stream American Rust: Broken Justice on Prime Video.
Starring David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) and Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone) as part of a large ensemble cast, Britannia is a British historical fantasy drama set in 43 AD, at a time when the Romans invaded Britain. Hellbent on achieving what Julius Caesar couldn’t do 90 years prior, General Aulus Plautius (Morrissey) leads his men into battle to conquer a land he thinks is his to claim.
So begins the back and forth among various tribes, all looking to protect their own. With elements of mysticism, demons, and plenty of complex storylines, including that of Druids with the power to channel forces from the underworld, Britannia doesn’t run quite as deep as shows like Game of Thrones. But it’s campy fun if you know what to expect. David Wharton of The Daily Dot calls the show “a beast filled with treachery, terrifying druids, and a whole mess of hallucinogens.” Britannia doesn’t quite take itself as seriously as Game of Thrones. But if you’re looking for a show to replace that one with a bit more humor, add this one to the watch list.
Stream Britannia on Prime Video.
While 2016 was eight years ago and a lot has changed since then, This is High School is a still-relevant six-part series that provides a glimpse into typical high school life for young coming-of-age kids. The set up for the docuseries, shot over an eight-week period, involves 50 remote controlled cameras placed inside a secondary school. They roll to capture all the mundane, drama-filled, happy, and sad moments that are typical of teenage life. There’s the troublemaking Dusan, star student Janell (who is having a tough time coping with the demands placed on her), and an autistic student named Austin trying to make social connections. You see teenage life from the point of view of all types of students.
At a time when parents are examining the public school system and sitcoms like Abbott Elementary are popular for using humor to shed light on some of its shortcomings, This is High School is a fascinating birds-eye view of the positives and the negatives. Produced in Canada and available to stream on both Prime Video and Freevee with ads, This Is High School piques curiosity to see what a day in the life of a high school student is like, though you also need to take into account an agenda to highlight the most extreme highs and lows.
Stream This is High School on Prime Video.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.